The Listening (Lights album)
| Recorded = 2006–09 The Salt Room Studios The Red Room Studios (St. Catharines, Ontario) Sony ATV Launch Pad Studios (Toronto, Ontario) Chalice Recording Studios (Hollywood, Los Angeles, California) | Genre = | Length = | Label = | Producer = | Last album = Lights (2008) | This album = The Listening (2009) | Next album = Acoustic (2010) | Misc = }} The Listening is the debut studio album by Canadian recording artist Lights. It was released on September 22, 2009 by Sire Records, with global distribution handled by parent Warner Music Group, although in Lights' native Canada the album is released instead by Universal Music Canada under licence. By July 2017, the album was certified platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), denoting sales in excess of 80,000 copies. Critical reception |title=The Listening – Lights |publisher=Allmusic. Rovi Corporation |accessdate=October 3, 2009}} | rev2 = Blogcritics | rev2Score = positive | rev3 = CHARTattack | rev3Score = 4/5 | rev4 = NME | rev4Score = 2/10 | rev5 = PopMatters | rev5Score = 8/10 | rev6 = Toronto Star | rev6Score = }} The Listening received generally positive reviews from music critics. Billboard contributor Mark Sutherland called the album a more accessible take on UK electronic music artists like Little Boots and La Roux. Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star said that people who can get past the saccharine preciousness, overuse of the Vocoder and its "decidedly sleepy tone" will find an album that "actually proves itself a lot more inventive and unpredictable than its trappings initially betray." Camilla Pia from NME heavily panned the record for Lights' vocals being "overproduced" and containing "dreadful" songwriting with rote melodies and instrumentation, calling it a "painfully saccharine" cross between Owl City and Ashlee Simpson. Track listing | extra1 = | length1 = 3:29 | title2 = Drive My Soul | writer2 = | extra2 = | length2 = 3:21 | title3 = River | writer3 = | extra3 = | length3 = 3:04 | title4 = The Listening | writer4 = | extra4 = | length4 = 3:36 | title5 = Ice | writer5 = | extra5 = | length5 = 2:56 | title6 = Pretend | writer6 = Poxleitner | extra6 = | length6 = 3:23 | title7 = The Last Thing on Your Mind | writer7 = Poxleitner | extra7 = | length7 = 3:20 | title8 = Second Go | writer8 = Poxleitner | extra8 = | length8 = 3:16 | title9 = February Air | writer9 = | extra9 = | length9 = 3:49 | title10 = Face Up | writer10 = | extra10 = | length10 = 3:26 | title11 = Lions! | writer11 = | extra11 = | length11 = 3:18 | title12 = Quiet | writer12 = | extra12 = | length12 = 3:15 | title13 = Pretend (Reprise) | writer13 = Poxleitner | extra13 = Lights | length13 = 3:05 | total_length = 43:18 }} | extra_column = Producer(s) | title14 = Saviour | note14 = Colin Munroe's Unsung Mix | writer14 = | extra14 = | length14 = 3:21 | title15 = Saviour | note15 = The Angry Kids FM Mix | writer15 = | extra15 = | length15 = 3:45 | title16 = Up Up and Away | writer16 = Poxleitner | extra16 = | length16 = 4:20 | total_length = 54:42 }} Personnel Adapted credits from the liner notes of The Listening. * Lights – vocals, production (all tracks); mixing (track 13); layout, design * The Angry Kids – additional production, remixing (track 15) * Garnet Armstrong – layout, design * João Carvalho – mastering * Caitlin Cronenberg – photography * Matt Green – engineering * Colin Munroe – remixing (track 14) * Thomas "Tawgs" Salter – production (tracks 1–3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 15); mixing (tracks 2, 3, 6, 10, 11, 14, 15) * Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (tracks 1, 5) * Dave "Dwave" Thomson – production, mixing (tracks 4, 7–9, 12, 16) * Lee Towndrow – photography Charts Certifications Release history References Category:2009 debut albums Category:Lights (musician) albums Category:Sire Records albums Category:Universal Music Canada albums Category:Warner Bros. Records albums